1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the packaging art and has particular reference to an improved carton for shipping and displaying a fragile article such as an electric lamp which has an abrasion-sensitive envelope, and to an improved package which utilizes such a carton.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When marketing fragile articles such as electric lamps it is customary to protect the articles from damage during shipment by placing the articles in a container or carton composed of suitable packaging material. In the case of certain types of incandescent lamps, such as those designed for decorative lighting and the like, the carton is so constructed that it has viewing apertures which attractively display the packaged lamp when it is placed in stores and other merchandising outlets. Various prior art shipping and display cartons for articles such as electric lamps which employ combinations of foldable tabs, flaps, panels, platforms, etc. for retaining and exposing the packaged items are described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
3,181,694 issued May 4, 1965 to E. B. Candell PA1 3,337,033 issued Aug. 22, 1973 to R. A. Cote PA1 3,734,397 issued May 22, 1973 to R. A. Cote PA1 3,770,116 issued Nov. 6, 1973 to R. A. Cote PA1 3,941,304 issued Mar. 2, 1976 to T. Barbieri et al.
In certain types of electric incandescent lamps, for example floodlamps designed for decorative lighting applications, the end face or lens portion of the glass envelope is coated with a colored plastic film to enhance the decorative effect of the light rays. Such coatings are also used on lamps for other functional purposes such as emergency signalling, etc. Since the colored films are very susceptible to scuffing or damage by abrasion, they present a rather unique problem from the packaging standpoint since the carton must protectively enclose the lamp without rubbing against the plastic coating and ruining it while the lamp is being shipped.
In accordance with one solution to this abrasion problem, a separate liner or pad of cardboard was placed into the end of the carton before the lamp was inserted to cover the rough protruding edges of the lamp-retaining portions of the carton and prevent them from contacting and rubbing against the plastic-coated end portion of the lamp envelope. While this arrangement was satisfactory from a lamp protection standpoint, it was expensive and constituted a production bottleneck since it required the manufacture of an additional packaging component and an additional operation in the lamp factory to insert such a component into the carton before the lamp could be loaded.